The Walls are Closing In
by Emily625
Summary: A new town. A new home. A new friend. All things that can make you nervous. But so can small spaces. That's how life is for this new greaser to town.


As I sat stowed away in the cargo section of the train, there was only one thing on my mind. I was moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma to live with my cousin Johnny and my aunt and uncle for a few years. My parents had gotten a job transfer that would take them to Spain for a couple years. They decided not to take me because they thought it would be too big of a change for me. My parents speak Spanish and they tried to teach me. As, a family, we didn't have as much money as most people do, or in other words, poor.

The job my parents were offered would get us way more money then they were making. So of course they took the job. They were given the option to wait until the summer ended to go to Spain, so they did. We spent that summer together doing as much things possible to make up for the two years we would be apart.

Before the train could stop, I jumped off so the conductor wouldn't catch me. My aunt and uncle were supposed to come and pick me up back home but they didn't. So I found a train heading for Tulsa and jumped on. I used to live in New Jersey so it's been a pretty long ride. Every day the train made a pit stop for an hour or two so I would go get some food and then climb back on before the train left.

As I walked through the streets, people would stare at me. There are many reasons people would stare at me. Some people would say I'm attractive. I had brown curly hair that went to my shoulders. My face is small and pointed. I was very scrawny and about average height for my age. The only thing unattractive about me was probably my clothes. I was wearing a blue t-shirt with a pair of ripped jeans I turned into shorts and my black converse (the only pair of shoes I had). The people who looked at me were dressed in nice clothes and were sitting around mustangs smoking cigarettes. They must have been loaded.

When I reached the house, Johnny was sitting outside smoking a cigarette.

"Hey, Bethany! How you been?" said Johnny as he gave me a hug.

"Good" I said. Johnny had changed over the years. The last time I saw him he was ten and I was eight (We are two years apart). Now, he was a foot taller. His hair was still black but longer then I remembered. His skin was paler then I remembered the thing that was new was a scar on his face that went from his temple to about the middle of his cheek. I wondered how he got that.

"So should we go inside then?" I asked him

"Um," he said. "I think it's best if we stay outside for right now."

I didn't ask any questions. I just put my bag on the porch. I was going to unpack but it's not like I had many things to actually unpack. I had four shirts, four pairs of jean shorts, a pair of jeans and a jacket. There was some other stuff but they were unnecessary.

We started walking down the street when some boys in a mustang drove up and yelled out "FILTHY GREASERS!" at us.

"What's a greaser?" I asked. Johnny explained how things worked in this town. The rich kids were called Socs and the poor people (that's where I fit in) were called Greasers. Socs and Greasers didn't get a long. There were fights and the Socs would jump Greasers for fun but they never got in trouble.

"So, they can pretty much do whatever they want, and the police couldn't give a damn about them?" I asked with frustration.

"Pretty much" Johnny said. "The police consider us Greasers lowlifes. Scum that doesn't deserve to live."

We kept on walking for some time.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah! We're going to meet my friends. You'll like them. They're real nice. " He explained. I felt nervous. I was kind of shy. I didn't have many friends back home. It was usually just me sitting somewhere reading a book.

We stopped in front of a beaten up old house. When we walked inside, there were six boys sitting around.

"Hey guys, this is Bethany, my cousin. She's going to be living with me for a few years." Johnny explained. A tall boy with blonde hair came up to me and shook my hand.

"Hi. I'm Soda and this is Darry, Two-bit, Steve, Dally, and Ponyboy." He explained. I looked at Ponyboy. He looked around my age. He smiled at me and waved. I waved back. I turned to Johnny.

"Um… Johnny, I think I'm gonna go for a walk." And with that, I walked out of the house and headed for home.

When I got home I went inside and said hello to my aunt she looked at me and said hello in a tired dull voice. She pointed down the hall and told me that my room was the one on the right. When I walked in my heart stopped.

The room was pretty tiny and there were no windows. I could tell it must have been a big closet before they put a bed in it. The reason why I was so scared was because I was highly claustrophobic. I couldn't stand tiny spaces. I quickly emptied my bag into the tiny dresser and left the room. I knew I wouldn't sleep in there. I couldn't. I'd have nightmares in there and I'd wake up in a storage closet. There was no way in hell that was going to happen.

I quickly left the room and shut the door. When I went in the living room, no one was there so I left. The streets were almost empty so I just walked until I found a park. The park was big with a playground, a fountain, and lots of trees for climbing. I found a nice sturdy one and climbed till I reached the top. It was nice up there. There was a cool breeze and the sun was setting. I looked up and watched the clouds until I fell asleep.


End file.
